Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Snake, The Crocodile and the Dog

My project of reading one Amelia Peabody a year continues with the seventh in the series, which picks up where The Last Camel Died at Noon left off. Having rescued the daughter of missionaries from the Lost Oasis in Nubia, the Emersons leave young Nefret and their son Ramses (who is obviously infatuated with their new ward) in England. Once in Egypt, they find word of their adventure has spread and unscrupulous archaeologists are willing to do anything to learn the location of the Lost Oasis. While selecting this year's dig site, the usual excitement occurs and Amelia, then Emerson, get kidnapped. When Amelia eventually rescues him, she discovers her husband has forgotten her and must attempt to win his love all over again. Meanwhile, their friend Cyrus Vandergelt has arrived on the scene to help Amelia and may be developing feelings for her as well.

As usual, it's becoming impossible for me to not love an Elizabeth Peters book. I kept laughing on my lunch break at work, much to the annoyance of my co-workers, I'm sure. I enjoyed watching Amelia and Emerson stumble into love all over again and seeing Emerson fight his bad temper to grudgingly admit Amelia is not such a bad archaeologist. I also loved the appearance of one of my favourite characters (can't say who, it would spoil everything) who, as usual, is present throughout the story but not revealed until the end. There's not as much archaeology going on in this installment, but who cares? This book was just too exciting to put down. My only regret was that it had to end.